Redding argues suicide investigation is confidential

REDDING — The town is trying to block a suicide victim’s family from getting access to an investigation into his death.

Labor attorney Patrick McHale, who was hired by Redding last fall to determine whether police acted appropriately when responding to Peter Valenti’s suicide in April 2016, recently submitted a draft report on his findings to town officials.

Valenti’s family claims in a lawsuit that officers, including Chief Doug Fuchs, prevented paramedics from accessing Valenti for nearly a half-hour after arriving at his home. When Valenti was later examined, medics found faint signs of life. He died shortly after at the hospital.

Valenti’s estate is now seeking access to McHale’s report. But the town is arguing that any communication with McHale is protected under attorney-client privilege.

“The materials sought by plaintiffs... including notes, invoices, attorney-compiled documents, draft reports, and communications by and between counsel and client — are plainly protected by the attorney-client privilege,” the town claims in court documents.

First Selectmen Julia Pemberton said Tuesday that the Board of Selectmen has yet to discuss the report. During an executive session held at the board’s regular meeting last week, legal advice was discussed, but the draft report was not, she said.

“The selectmen are individually reviewing the report and we’ve yet to discuss it as a group,” she said.

Pemberton declined to say when the report would be made available to the public, noting that revisions of the draft may be requested by the Board of Selectmen after its review.

Fuchs meanwhile has been on paid administrative leave since October while the investigation and the lawsuit have been pending. On the day of the suicide, the chief refused to let medics near the victim, telling them the shed where Valenti hung himself was a crime scene, according to court filings.

Gerard McEnrey, an attorney representing the Valenti estate, withdrew a claim in the lawsuit this week that Fuchs’ actions caused emotional distress to Valenti’s father. Specifically, the claim was that Fuchs told Valenti’s father that his son was dead, when in fact nobody had checked the man’s vital signs.

McEnrey said Tuesday that pursuit of that particular claim would have been difficult for the family so he decided to withdraw the charge.

“Pursuing these claims would have heightened my clients’ anxiety by reliving the trauma,” he said.